Shane Adams

Robert Shane Adams was adopted by Dr. Robert N. Adams and Joyce Adams, and grew up in Henderson, Nevada — a desert city southeast of Las Vegas. His birth mother is Ruth Snarr. He attended Basic High School, graduating with the class of 1985.

He wrote his first song at ten years old. It was terrible. He got better.

His first concert was seeing Journey in Las Vegas. His balcony seat overlooked their keyboard player, and it was the first time he thought: THAT'S what I want to do.

At eighteen, fresh out of high school, he drove to a recording studio — in the car later featured in the artwork for his single "Somehow" — and recorded seven original piano-and-vocal compositions. He compiled them onto cassette tapes, handwrote the labels, and called the collection No Frills. He sold hundreds of them. That initial recording experience launched his professional music career.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he performed "No Frills" concerts at the Las Vegas Library — solo piano and vocals, which caught enough attention that, according to the Henderson Home News, he "has already been offered a contract and is considering other options."

Shane attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, beginning around 1991. He initially studied arranging, then got frustrated with songwriting — so he switched his major to arranging. Eventually, he found his way back to songwriting. He also studied music business. This winding path through the curriculum would later make him a more versatile and empathetic educator.

At Berklee, he became President of the Student Songwriters Association, was named to the Dean's List, and served on the Student Advisory Board to the College President.

His hometown newspaper, the Henderson Home News, covered him four separate times during his Berklee years:

Shane moved to Nashville and worked his way through the trenches of the music publishing industry. His positions included roles at Mike O'Rear Publishing, Sea Gayle Music, One Music, and Criterion Music. His work encompassed pitching song catalogs, contract negotiation, copyright processing, artist development, royalty statements, and Harry Fox audits.

He also worked at Pro Audio Solutions, configuring custom computers for recording studios and designing/installing DAWs, PA systems, and home theater systems.

And before all of that — before the publishing companies and the recording studios — Shane worked as a bank teller (two company-wide customer service awards; helped open the first grocery store banking center in Nevada), managed a retail bicycle store, ran a pizza restaurant, cleaned carpets, and performed as a live solo piano/vocal dinner entertainer.

Berklee Online (2003–present): Shane became a founding instructor in 2003, teaching lyric writing, songwriting, and music notation for over 22 years. Berklee Online has grown from a startup to the world's largest online music school. Shane was there from the beginning. His students call him "Uncle Shane."

Berklee NYC: Associate Professor mentoring master's degree candidates. Courses include Songwriting Basics and Recording and Producing Music for Beginners.

Interlochen Center for the Arts (2018–present): Founding instructor and course developer for Interlochen Online, where he created the Songwriting Techniques certificate program (three four-week courses). Also serves as Instructor of Singer-Songwriter at Interlochen Arts Camp for grades 6–12. Students rate his courses 4.7 out of 5.

Cambridge Creative Labs: Chair of the Music Department, with roles including faculty search/hiring, department development, course development, and technology strategies.

He created a teaching tool called "Uncle Shane's Famous Modezilla Chart," which his students reference constantly.

Shane co-developed and co-wrote both the Words & Music curriculum and Songwriting 101 program for the Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. He is credited as "Songwriting Consultant" — the first name listed in the acknowledgements.

He was a featured performer and writer for Words & Music Night for twelve years. He served on the museum's expansion advisory board and facilitated the Poetry in Motion outreach program.

In 2014, the Country Music Hall of Fame awarded Shane the Top Ten Hitmaker Award.

Shane has conducted songwriting workshops, masterclasses, and seminars in 40 US states as well as internationally, including Australia, Mexico, Romania, and Canada. Documented workshop appearances include:

Shane is listed on the clients page of Blackbird Studio — alphabetically between Serj Tankian and Shania Twain. Blackbird is one of Nashville's most prestigious recording facilities, founded by John McBride and Martina McBride.

He has served as a featured composer for Fjor Films and has written for Warner/Chappell Production Music. Both relationships have concluded.

Production Credits:

Film Scores:

Featured in Pat Pattison's Writing Better Lyrics — object writing exercises on pages 10–11 and 13–14, attributed "—Shane Adams." One of the most widely used songwriting textbooks in the world.

Co-authored "Breaking into Nashville" with Jonathan Feist in the Songwriter's Market 40th Annual Edition (Penguin Random House, 2016).

Regular columnist for iSing Magazine. Eight Quick Songwriting Tips videos on Berklee Online's YouTube — 500,000+ views.

Mexico City, 2017: Lectured to master's students at Anáhuac University ("the Mexican Harvard"). Taught 60 private lessons and 200+ group students at International Vocal Training (IVT). Eddie Robson, IVT President, wrote that Shane's visit was "one of the best things that has happened to our institution." Received the Trajectory Award.

Folk Alliance International, Montréal, 2019: Presented at the world's largest gathering of folk music industry professionals. February 13–17, 2019, at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel.

Bucharest, Romania, 2022: Music seminar at Magazinul Muzica, the historic music store on Calea Victoriei (since 1965, now closed).

Australia: Conducted seminars with an Australian school.

Canada connection: Prosody 101 presentation for Darcy D Music Group / VocalizeU. Darcy D has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and shared Gold record success with Juno-winning artists Prism.

Shane is a frequent guest on music-oriented podcasts and media. His appearances include:

Conference Keynotes & Presentations:

YouTube:

• Worldview: Optimistic Nihilist
• A Taurus (Born May 1)
• Favorite chord: D Major over G
• Favorite punctuation: !
• Gifted anagramarian
• Dedicated word nerd, loves deep etymology references
• Has a full shoulder-to-elbow sleeve tattoo based on a 17th century Guido Reni painting
• Nationally ranked Buffalo Wild Wings trivia champion
• Can solve a Rubik's cube in under 3 minutes
• Loves the Vienna opening in chess
• License plate IRTSNGS since 1989 — two Nevada plates, the rest Tennessee
• Got frustrated with songwriting at Berklee, switched to arranging, then found his way back to songwriting
• Favorite sushi: salmon nigiri
• Secretly prefers verse/refrains to verse/choruses
• Has a photo shaking James Taylor's hand at a Berklee graduation ceremony — for a degree he didn't finish
• First cassette was called No Frills. The hundreds of cases were all handwritten

It's very easy and self-serving to display such a glib and rosy account of my professional journey. The real story contains incredible mistakes, missteps, and bad decisions. I have mentored brilliantly talented individuals to great success, and have hurt and disappointed scores of others. To the former, I am incredibly grateful to be part of your journey. To the latter I apologize from the bottom of my heart. You deserved better.

~Shane